Car Craft’s Real Street Eliminator VII

1/20Jimi Day’s ’69 AMX looked like an early favorite and was only a couple of tenths away from taking the whole Muscle Car class win. The AMX was built by previous RSE champ Randy Johnson’s D&Z Customs and is powered by a normally aspirated Chevrolet Performance LS3 crate engine.

Like a favorite pair of jeans or that 9⁄16-inch wrench that feels perfect in your hand, Real Street Eliminator just keeps getting better. The headline says RSE VII, but that number reflects only the latest version. Ask a veteran CC reader, and he will tell you that RSE can trace its roots all the way back to the mid ’80s (May 1986), when we put four victims through their paces during a complex, two-day event. There have been dozens of events in the interim, and, since we’re supposed to be wiser, in the new millennium we’ve condensed RSE down to a three-part event held in conjunction with Car Craft’s Summer Nationals in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We’ve split up the competitors into three classes just to make it more interesting, and also so our precious muscle cars don’t have to slug it out with Corvettes and Vipers! We’ve also changed the format a little, narrowing the competition down to a maximum- horsepower Lucas Oil/E3 Spark Plugs chassis dyno test, the always-fun QA1 autocross, and Car Craft’s innovative Launch Box. Just as in past years, the points chase through three days came down to a battle for hundredths of a second on the Launch Box for the Muscle Car class, and even more surprises were in store for the Late Models, as a classic dark (or more accurately orange) horse stole the show from a couple of early leaders. Hint: We designed this event to reward power and consistent performance.

As is usually the case, the fight came down to Sunday morning runs on the autocross and the Launch Box, as the top two cars in the Muscle Car and Late Models classes battled it out for the title. There was even some interesting potential blocking efforts going on with late arrivals. The Corvette/Viper class wasn’t as populated this year (with only two competitors), but it was still a fight right down to Sunday. To bring you up to speed on the points system: We assign 30 points to win each category, with 20 points for Second place, and 10 points for Third. Obviously, if a competitor can win two categories, it locks in a win—but that was only the case in the Muscle Car class this year.

Lucas Oil/E3 Spark Plug Dyno Challenge
All three categories carry the same weight in terms of points, but the chassis dyno test is the key. If at any time within the contest we have a tie, either in lap time or with points for position, we use horsepower as the tiebreaker. That brought some big guns to the party this year, including Justin Nall’s E85-fueled, turbocharged, LS-powered ’66 Chevelle that swept the horsepower king of the hill honors, with a seemingly effortless 765 rwhp number. Next closest was Brandon Schilling’s ’09 Shelby clone Mustang pushing out 673 rwhp, while AJ Mehta’s normally aspirated 427 Corvette took the sports-car class win with 548 hp. Of 19 total competitors, eight cars cranked more than 500 rwhp. Horsepower junkies that we are, power-adders of any kind are encouraged. Frankly, we’re surprised when somebody shows up without at least a 150hp shot of squeeze. We also applaud Justin Nall’s effort for taking advantage of the easily accessible E85 pump fuel. We asked him if he used anything special, and he said, “Nope, I just filled it up at the local gas station right before I drove here.” Where we come from, that’s impressive. If there was a guy who should have showed up with a little more muscle, it was Jimi Day’s ’69 AMX. While it promised to be strong on the autocross, Jimi’s last-place showing on the dyno put him behind early.

Lucas Oil / E3 Spark Plug Dyno Challenge Results
Late Model Class

Position/Owner

Vehicle

RWHP

Points

1st: Brandon Schilling

’09 Mustang

673

30

2nd: Jesse Riggle

’99 Firebird

668

20

3rd Joel Route

’07 Mustang

460

10

4th: Brian Kunkel

’10 Camaro

401

-

5th: Jesse Kalvik

’99 Ford Lightning

397

-

6th: Carson Turnquist

’02 Ford Lightning

384

-

7th: Peter Barton

’91 Mustang

358

-

8th: Dan Howe

‘84 Monte Carlo

290

-

9th: Brett Lindert

’97 Mustang

274

-

10th: Mike Callahan

’99 Crown Vic

268

-

Muscle Car Class

Muscle Car Class

Position/Owner

Vehicle

HP

Points

1st: Justin Nall

'66 Chevelle

765

30

2nd: Nathan Shaw

'71 Nova

655

20

3rd: Josh Leisinger

'70 Camaro

562

10

4th: Troy Borgen

'69 Camaro

552

-

5th: Robert Fox

'67 Camaro

417

-

6th: Eric McClelland

'68 Camaro

412

-

7th: Jimi Day

'69 AMX

397

-

Corvette/Viper Class

Position / Owner

Vehicle

HP

Points

1st: AJ Mehta

’06 ZO6 Corvette

548

30

2nd: Eric Winsor

’99 427 Corvette

528

20

QA1 Autocross
Of the three events in RSE, the autocross seems to be the crucible. This year, our friends at Land O’ Lakes SCCA club worked with fairgrounds officials to expand the course. In fact, course designer Mark Utech showed how he could wheel the entire course using his crew cab, long-bed Ford truck, so there could be no questions about tight-radius turns. Jimi Day quickly proved that even lukewarm horsepower is no detriment to quick times, as he was soon showing the rest of the RSE cars how to assault the cones. While everybody else was struggling to run high-23-second laps, Jimi tweaked an asphalt-burnishing 22.064. But then, Josh Leisinger, driving the intense ’70 Camaro surpassed that with an even quicker 21.826. In the Late Model class, horsepower leader Schilling struggled while an innocuous blue Monte Carlo SS driven by autocross rookie Dan Howe laid down a very quick 23.811 that stood as the quick Late Model time on Friday. Saturday, times fell marginally with Jimi’s AMX taking the lead with a 21.563 to the Camaro’s 21.752. In Late Model, Dan Howe dropped his time to 23.116 only to see Joel Route blitz a 23.010. But both of them found themselves behind veteran competitor Brett Lindert in his Mustang GT, who dark-horsed the field with a 22.612 to take Saturday’s top spot.

5/20Carson Turquist returned with his Ford Lightning truck to show that even a pickup can trim the cones, with a decent Sixth Place finish in Late Model.

Sunday, the autocross was open only until noon, so the pressure was on. The joust between the AMX and the Camaro continued, with Leisinger taking top time by barely 0.30 second over the D&Z customs–built AMX. In Late Model, nobody improved on Saturday’s times, giving Lindert Numero Uno. Joel Route was looking pretty good with a Second Place finish. In an odd twist, the muscle cars were much quicker on the autocross than the late models and even the two Corvettes! On the Corvette front, Eric Winsor used his autocross experience (he drove a stripped-down ’87 Vette in ’10’s RSE) to make it a win apiece between he and Mehta. The tiebreaker would be the Launch box.

6/20Josh Leisinger’s Camaro sports a normally aspirated 500ci LS stroker built by The Professor, Warren Johnson—yes, the same WJ that races NHRA Pro Stock. But horsepower only goes so far on a tight autocross course. The rest is chassis, tire, and driver. Young Josh did his part to claim the quickest time of the RSE weekend.

“It should’ve rained.”Brandon Schilling on how rain on Saturday and Sunday might have helped him win the autocross.

QA1 Autocross ResultsLate Model Class

Position/Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: Brett Lindert

’97 Mustang

22.612

30

2nd: Joel Route

’07 Mustang

23.010

20

3rd: Dan Howe

‘84 Monte Carlo

23.116

10

4th: Brandon Schilling

’09 Mustang

23.461

-

5th: Jesse Riggle

’99 Firebird

23.485

-

6th: Carson Turnquist

’02 Ford Lightning

24.648

-

7th: Mike Callahan

’99 Crown Vic

25.056

-

8th: Peter Barton

’91 Mustang

25.671

-

9th: Brian Kunkel

’10 Camaro

25.701

-

DNS: Jesse Kalvik

’99 Ford Lightning*

22.919

-

*Illegal Tires—Drag Radials

Muscle Car Class

Position / Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: Josh Leisinger

’70 Camaro

21.483

30

2nd: Jimi Day

’69 AMX

21.820

20

3rd: Nathan Shaw

’71 Nova

23.464

10

4th: Justin Nall

’66 Chevelle

24.074

-

5th: Eric McClelland

’68 Camaro

24.385

-

6th: Troy Borgen

’69 Camaro

25.549

-

7th: Robert Fox

’67 Camaro

28.074

-

Corvette/Viper Class

Position/Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: Eric Winsor

’99 427 Corvette

22.058

30

2nd: AJ Mehta

’06 ZO6 Corvette

24.492

20

Car Craft Launch Box
Since both the QA1 autocross and the Launch Box events run concurrently, it’s generally a very fluid situation, as fresh times create position changes. Often, the Launch Box is overlooked until late Saturday or early Sunday, when the competitors discover they have a better chance at more points on Launch Box than on the autocross. In the Late Model class, Brandon Schilling’s Mustang looked good with 3.06-second times, and Joel Route was just behind him. But by Sunday, Dan Howe’s Schwartz Monte Carlo had bested both with a 2.99, and Route pushed Brandon to Third. In Muscle Car, it became a shootout between Josh’s silver Camaro and Jimi Day’s AMX, until Nathan Shaw tweaked everything with a Second Place finish, pushing Jimi to Third. In the Corvette class, AJ had Eric Winsor covered. As has been the case since the first year of Launch Box, regular Summer Nationals participants also took a shot at Launch Box, and our best e.t. of the weekend came from Keith Letarski’s big-block–powered ’68 Charger (that runs 10.50s at 126), due almost exclusively to a great launch and in spite of its skinny front tires. It’s also worth mentioning that Keith’s sticky tires would not have been RSE legal. But there’s still a major clue here if you interpret this information properly.

Car Craft Launch Box ResultsLate Model Class

Position/Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: Dan Howe

’84 Monte Carlo

2.99

30

2nd: Joel Route

’07 Mustang

3.05

20

3rd: Brandon Schilling

’09 Mustang

3.06

10

4th: Brian Kunkel

’10 Camaro

3.13

-

5th: Jesse Riggle

’99 Firebird

3.21

-

6th: Carson Turnquist

’02 Ford Lightning

3.45

-

7th: Mike Callahan

’99 Crown Vic

3.45

-

8th: Brett Lindert

’97 Mustang

3.47

-

9th: Peter Barton

’91 Mustang

3.58

-

DNS: Jesse Kalvik

’99 Ford Lightning

3.00*

-

*Illegal Tires

Muscle Car

Position/Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: Josh Leisinger

’70 Camaro

2.96

30

2nd: Jimi Day

’69 AMX

2.98

20

3rd: Nathan Shaw

’71 Nova

3.04

10

4th: Eric McClelland

’68 Camaro

3.09

-

5th: Troy Borgen

’69 Camaro

3.31

-

6th: Justin Nall

’66 Chevelle

3.33

-

7th: Robert Fox

’67 Camaro

3.49

-

Corvette/Viper

Position/Owner

Vehicle

Time

Points

1st: AJ Mehta

’06 ZO6 Corvette

3.12

30

2nd: Eric Winsor

’99 427 Corvette

3.33

20

The Winners
When we revamped the latest version of Real Street, the plan was to reward consistent performance. In fact, the numbers said it was possible to capture an RSE crown without winning a single event. We really didn’t expect that to happen—but this year it did. As in past years, if we have a tie for a position, the tiebreaker goes to the car with the most horsepower. And as always, horsepower played a big role. Joel Route was Third in the horsepower game, Second on the autocross, and Second in Launch Box, which was enough to best the rest of the field, including early favorite Brandon Schilling’s white Shelby Mustang clone. There were other surprises as well, including Brett Lindert’s quick autocross time and Dan Howe locking in Third place. It’s intrigue like this that makes RSE unpredictable. In Muscle Car, the big guns quickly made their positions known with Jimi Day’s AMX apex-quick on the autocross, with Josh Leisinger gaining ground with every run. But the AMX didn’t spin the horsepower rollers quick enough, and that cost him Second Place. The spoiler alert again played its hand with Nathan Shaw quietly collecting points in all three events to finish Second. In the end, it was the Leisinger Camaro that bested the Muscle Car field by snatching both the QA1 autocross and Launch Box. We heard rumors that Josh took advantage of coaching from a Land O’ Lakes SCCA driver, indicating that driver skill is a very important factor when it comes to finding the ideal line amid the cones. In fact, the Camaro would have won the Late Model and Corvette class as well! In the Corvette duel, AJ Mehta bested Eric Winsor and the difference came down to 20 hp! So if this sounds like more fun than should be allowed, you should be already thinking about next year and what it will take to claim the Real Street Eliminator trophy. Get started now. July 2013 isn’t that far away.

Late Model

Position/ Owner

Vehicle

HP

Autocross

Launch Box

Total

1st: Joel Route

’07 Mustang

460 (10)

23.10 (20)

3.05 (20)

50

2nd: Brandon Schilling

’09 Mustang Shelby

673 (30)

23.461 (0)

3.06 (10)

40

3rd: Dan Howe

’84 Monte Carlo

290 (0)

23.116 (10)

2.99 (30)

40

Muscle Car

Position/Owner

Vehicle

HP

Autocross

Launch Box

Total

1st: Josh Leisinger

’70 Camaro

562 (10)

21.483 (30)

2.96 (30)

70

2nd: Nathan Shaw

’71 Nova

655 (20)

23.464 (10)

3.04 (10)

40

3rd: Jimi Day

’69 AMX

397 (0)

21.563 (20)

2.98 (20)

40

Corvette/Viper

Position/Owner

Vehicle

HP

Autocross

Launch Box

Total

1st: AJ Mehta

’06 ZO6 Corvette

548 (30)

24.492 (20)

3.12 (30)

80

2nd: Eric Winsor

’99 427 Corvette

528 (20)

22.058 (30)

3.33 (20)

70

Mickey Thompson Award
This year, the Mickey Thompson tire company wanted to get involved with Real Street after announcing the availability of its new ultra high performance (UHP) Street Comp radial tire that is intended for superlative street driving. Mickey Thompson wanted to award a set of tires to a deserving Real Street Eliminator competitor. We considered awarding the tires to a class winner, but we thought we’d spread the wealth by choosing a more deserving RSE competitor who could use the help in the traction department. After reviewing all the lap times, we decided that Peter Barton and his ’91 Mustang not only best fit our performance criterion, but he was also one of RSE’s most enthusiastic supporters. He told us early on, “I probably won’t win, but it’s just great to be here!” Congratulations, Peter, and thanks to Mickey Thompson for helping make Real Street even more deserving of its name.

Big Thanks
First of all, we’d like to thank Land O’ Lakes region the Sports Car Club of America club and all its members for putting on a superb autocross event. We’d especially like to thank Regional Executive Kathy Gillen and members Mary and Mark Utech, Carrie Carlson, Jimmy Griggs, Pat Mackey, and all the Land O’ Lakes club members who made the QA1 Autocross such a success. Since it’s near impossible to run the Launch Box and cover all the activities during RSE, our friends, Eric Rosendahl and Doug Eisberg, flew out again this year to help keep up with Launch Box’s frantic pace. This year, we used a different timing system that was much more reliable than our old radar gun system. Our Iowa buddy, Bill Irwin, also pitched in when it was really hectic. Thanks guys, we couldn’t have done it without you.

20/20That’s Doug Eisberg on the left yanking the front end alongside Eric Rosendahl, both of whom put in long hours in the sun recording times and officiating Launch Box for this years’ RSE. End